President Donald Trump has abruptly canceled funding for a massive project in deep-red Indiana, leaving many of his supporters feeling confused and hurt.
The Trump administration rescinded a $500 million grant for the Heidelberg plant in Mitchell to trap and bury greenhouse gas produced by cement manufacturing as part of its ongoing purge of funding for projects perceived to be linked to global warming, reported the Washington Post.
“This was going to be a demonstration project for the entire country,” said Republican Mayor Don Caudell. “Part of what is disheartening for us is so much had already been done and spent on this project, and now it has all come to a halt.”
Cement is highly carbon-intensive, producing up to 8 percent of the planet's greenhouse gas, and demand for lower-carbon cement that swaps out limestone for clay has skyrocketed as states and other countries mandate cleaner products.
“There is a growing international demand for this,” said Sean O’Neill, a vice president at the American Cement Association.
Lower-carbon cement makes up two-thirds of all the cement purchased in the U.S., up from just 2 percent in 2020, and critics say the cancelation is another example of Trump creating unnecessary economic risks by crusading against clean technology.
“There is an enormous export and growth market for these products,” said Andres Clarens, a professor of engineering at the University of Virginia who oversaw industrial decarbonization efforts in the Biden White House. “We are basically saying to China: You can have this.”
The cancelation letter stated the project did not align with administration priorities and suggested the cost of transporting carbon would be too high, but Heidelberg officials say that doesn't make sense because the emissions would be buried on site.
“It did not appear they had a very deep understanding of the project,” said David Perkins, a vice president at Heidelberg North America, a subsidiary of the multinational firm headquartered in Germany.
Indiana Republicans were thrilled by the project and joined Biden administration officials at its unveiling, but now Mitchell is losing 1,000 temporary construction jobs and three dozen long-term positions at the plant.
“People feel like they have been stabbed in the back,” said Doug Duncan, a fourth-generation steelworker and president of the local union. “This was an investment in the long-term future of this plant and the cement industry. It would have allowed us to capture 2 million tons of carbon. Now, that future is uncertain.”